No, I did not put all those hours on it: it had about 11 hours when I got there, some if it by the factory in the Czech Republic, some of it by the dealer for flight testing of the instrumentation installed after it got here, and licensing requirements. The remaining hours I spent with Jim Lee, the dealer and a flight instructor. The engine inspection trip was similar to many of our flights.
The maintenance facility is Lockwood Aviation in Sebring, FL (yes, where they race cars) about 62 miles from Melbourne, FL. We planned a cross-country flight to Sebring for today. A restricted airspace area used by the Air Force lies between the two cities. A call to the FAA Flight Service determined the restricted area wasn't active, saving us the 25 miles needed to fly around it. The weather looked good: low winds, sunny.
We made a couple of touch and goes at Melbourne before departing for Sebring. Along the way, I used the autopilot to fly us most of the distance, including the climb and descent, and used some of the other features (and it has many!) of the "glass panel" (LCD screen displaying maps and instruments). Lots of learning going on, but with one pilot watching outside and the other working the panel, it's safe. It's a real asset, once learned, but it has a steep learning curve.
The return leg of the trip mirrored the first leg: a few touch and goes landing practice at Sebring, a direct flight to to Melbourne, a couple more touch and goes, and back to Jim's hangar. We spent an hour looking for the cause of mild radio interference with weak radio transmissions from other aircraft and ground stations.
The flight time was about 1.5 hours, but the inspection took over 3 hours, so with the preparation, it was full day.
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